Circuit breaker handle baffle



SePt- 11, 1962 G. J. GEISSNER ETAL 3,053,958

CIRCUIT BREAKER HANDLE BAFFLE Filed Nov. 19, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 PIE- L Q /f /0 /4 J5 all /7 Sept. 11, 1962 G. J. GEISSNER ETAL CIRCUIT BREAKER HANDLE BAFFLE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 19, 1959 Mad United States Patent O 3,053,958 CIRCUIT BREAKER HANDLE BAFFLE George J. Giessner, Oaklyn, NJ., and James H. Leonard,

Philadelphia, Pa., assignors to I-T-E Circuit Breaker Company, Philadelphia, Fa., a corporation of Pennsylvama Filed Nov. 19, 1959, Ser. No. 854,094 4 Claims. (Cl. ZOO- 168) 'Ihe instant invention relates to circuit breakers in general and more particularly to a novel sealing means which prevents flame and other ionized particles from coming out of the circuit breaker case through the opening providing for the manual operating handle.

Today circuit breakers for home and light industrial applications, say in the ratings between l and 100 amperes, are usually constructed with a molded insulating case and a manual operating handle which is pivoted close to the handle opening in the case. Such a construction is illustrated in detail in the Felix E. Myers c-opending application Serial No. 807,885, tiled April 2l, 1959, now Patent No. 2,996,589, issued August 15, 1961, entitled Pivoted Bimetal, and assigned to the assignee of the instant invention.

With this type of construction, it is extremely difcult to prevent ionized particles produced during circuit interruption from coming out of the handle opening. Thus, when the circuit breaker is being closed on a short circuit, or high amplitude fault, the operator manually closing the breaker is in great `danger of being burned.

The prior art has attempted to solve this problem by providing a shield that moves with the contact arm and attempts to confine flame and ionized particles to a region other than the handle section. Another prior art method comprises the utilization of a grease in the handle section that was intended to close off the portions of the handle opening not occupied by the handle. In practice both of these arrangements have been found to be unsatisfactory.

The instant invention solves the previously recited problem by providing an H-shaped sealing member which is constructed of insulating sheet material. The sheet material is in the order of .008 inch thick and is comprised of a fiber so as to be eXible. 'I'he web of the H is placed in a handle recess in such a posit-ion that the openings along lthe top and bottom of the handle are protected. There is further sealing as the gases, during interruption, tend to force the fiber sheet against the boundaries defining any openings in the handle region, thus forming a seal which prevents any ame or particles from coming out of the handle opening.

Accordingly, a primary object of the instant invention is to provide a novel means for preventing flame and other ionized particles from coming out of a circuit breaker handle opening.

Another object is to provide a novel handle bathe for molded case circuit breakers in which the handle of the circuit breaker is pivoted close to the handle opening.

Still another object is to provide a novel circuit breaker handle baille which comprises an H-shaped member constructed of liexible insulating sheet material.

These as well as other objects of the instant invention shall become readily apparent after reading the following description of the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of a circuit breaker including the sealing baffle means of lthe instant invention. The near portion of the housing has been removed to reveal the internal mechanism of the circuit breaker which is in the On position.

FIGURES 2 and 3 are fragmentary views or" the circuit breaker mechanism. In FIGURE 2 the circuit breaker is in the manual open position while in FIGURE 3 the circuit breaker is in the tripped position.

FIGURE 4 is a plan View of the circuit breaker of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 5 is a cross-section taken through line 5-5 of FIGURE 2 looking in the direction of arrows 5 5 and illustrates the pivotal mounting of the manual operating handle.

FIGURE 6 is a plan view of the sealing baffle.

Now referring to the figures, circuit breaker 10, with the exception of sealing means 100, is described in detail in the aforesaid copending application, Serial No. 807,885, tiled April 21, 1959, now Patent No. 2,996,589, entitled Pivoted Bimetal.

Brietiy, circuit breaker 10 comprises Ia molded housing 11 separable int-o two sections 12, 13. When the housing sections 12, 13 are mated an opening 14 is formed at the top thereof for operating handle 15 which forms a portion of manual operating member 16.

Operating member 16 includes projecting pivot portions 17 which are received by cav-ities in housing section 12, 13 (FIGURE 5) to provide a pivotal connection between operating member 16 and housing 11. Manual operating member 16 further includes Ian operating portion 18 which is positioned internally of housing 11 and extends from pivot 17 in a direction opposite to the extension of operating handle 15.

Main operating spring 20 is secured at 21 to operating cradle 25 yand at 22 to movable contact arm 23. The upper end of contact arm 23 is pivoted `at 24 to operating portion 18 while the lower end of contact avm 23 carries movable contact 26 which in the closed position of circuit breaker 10, is in engagement with stationary contact 2,7. Cradle 25 is a releasable member pivotal-ly mounted to case formation 28.

Cradle 25 includes a latch tip 29 which is engaged by latch 30 to restrain cradle 25 in the reset position of FIGURES 1 and 2. Latch 30 is carried by arm 31 which is pivoted to housing 11 at 32 and is biased in a clockwise direction about pivot 32 by compression spring 33. Arm 31 comprises a bimetal element which, when heated, defects so as to move latch 30 to the right with respect to FIGURE l. Magnet 34 is carried by bimetal 31 at the lower end thereof and cooperates substantially with stationary armature 35 to provide an instantaneous trip means for circuit breaker 10.

Member 36, having rectangular opening 37, is also pivoted -at 32 and, as explained in the aforesaid Patent No. 2,996,589, provides a convenient means for manually interconnecting a plurality of circuit -breaker 10 for simultaneous automatic operation. Rollerr38, carried by releasable cradle 25, is engageable with member 36 for operation thereof when latchv tip 29 is released by latch 30: Z-shaped kicker 39 is pivotally carried at 40 to cradle 25 and is engageable with contact arm 23 upon automatic tripping of circuit breaker 10 so as to apply a force which plies contacts 216, 27 apart.

The current path through circuit breaker 10` comprises load terminal 42, braid 43, bimetal 31, conducting element 44, braid 45, contact arm 23, movable contact 26, sttttionary contact 27 and female stab type line terminal l The operating portion 1S of manual operating member 16 includes spaced arms 51, 52 which straddle cradle 25 and form a recess 53 in which the web 101 of balfle means is disposed. Arm 51 engages cradle pin 65 to rotate cradle 25 counterclockwise from the released position of FIGURE 3 to the latched position of FIGURE 2.

Sealing baffle means 100 comprises a lgenerally H- shaped member 102 constructed of thin sheet material, preferably a lleXible bre insulating material such as lish paper. The web 101 of member 102 is positioned to eX tend perpendicular to the pivotal connection between an- Y nual operating member 16 and housing 11 formed by pivots 17. Baflie member 102 is maintained in operative position by being interposed between cradle 25 and the portions f operating member 16 between pivots 17.

' It is to Ibe noted that the handle pivots 17 are positioned extremely close to the handle opening region 14 of housing 11. It is also to be noted that pivot 17 is interposed between baiiie member 102 and handle opening 14.

During circuit interruption by circuit breaker 10, the ionized gases formed between cooperating contacts 26, 27 create a pressure within housing 11 which forces the sides 103, 104 of the H-shaped member 102 upward to form a gas seal. That is, side 103 is `forced against the internal formation 99 of housing 11 and side 104 is forced against internal formation 98 of housing 11.

Thus, we have provided novel means for sealing handle opening 14 during circuit interruption. The novel means comprises the simple inexpensive H-shaped member 102 which is operatively positioned without altering existing circuit breaker constructions.

Although we have here described preferred embodiment of our novel invention, many variations and modifications will now be apparent to those skilled in the art, 'and we therefore prefer to be limited, not by the specific disclosure herein, Abut only by the appending claims.

We claim:

l. A circuit :breaker including a housing, a manual operating member, means providing a pivotal connection between said operating member and said housing, said operating member including an operating handle extending through an opening in said housing and projecting beyond the contines of said housing; a sealing means operatively positioned and constructed to close otr" portions of said opening not voccupied by said operating member; said sealing means comprising a sheet-like member constructed of exible material; said operating member also including an operating portion disposed within said housing; said operating handle and said operating portion extending from said pivotal connection in opposite directions; said operating portion having a recess; said sheet-like member having a rst portion thereof disposed Within said operating portion recess; the ends of said sheet-like member lbeing relatively stationary with respect to motion of said operating handle.

2. A circuit breaker including a housing, a manual operating member, means providing a pivotal connection between said operating member and said housing, said operating member including an operating handle extending through yan opening in said housing and projecting beyond the contines of said housing; a sealing means oper-atively positioned and constructed to close off portions of said opening not occupied by said operating member; said sealing means comprising a generally H-shaped member; said operating member also including an operating lI'iorti-on disposed said housing; said operating handle and said operating portion extending from said pivotal connection in opposite directions; said operating portion having a recess; said H-shaped member having it web disposed Within said operating portion recess, the ends of said H-shaped member being relatively stationary with respect Vto motion of said operating handle.

3. A circuit breaker including a housing, a manual operating member, means providing a pivotal connection between said operating member and said housing, said operating member including an operating handle extending through lan opening in said housing 4and projecting lbeyond the contines of said housing; a sealing means operatively positioned and constructed to close oi portions of said opening not occupied by said operating member; said sealing means comprising a generally H-shaped member; said operating member also including an operating portion disposed within said housing; said operating handle and said operating portion extending from said pivotal connection in opposite directions; said operating portion including a pair of arms spaced to form a recess therebetween; said H-shaped member having its web disposed within said operating portion recess; said pivotal connection being interposed lbetween said H -shaped member and said housing opening, the ends of said H-shaped member lbeing relatively stationary with respect to motion of said operating handle.

4. A circuit breaker including a housing, a manual operating member, means providing a pivotal connection between said operating member and said housing, said operating member including an operating handle extending through 4an opening in said housing and projecting beyond the contines of said housing; .a sealing means operatively positioned and constructed to close o portions of said opening not occupied by said operating member; said sealing means comprising a generally H-shaped member; said operating member also including an operating portion disposed within said housing; said operating handle and said operating portion extending from said pivotal connection in opposite directions; said operating portion including a pair of arms spaced to form a recess therebetween; said H-shaped member having its web disposed within said operating portion recess, the ends of said H- shaped member being relatively stationary with respect to motion of said operating handle; said circuit breaker also including a pair of cooperating contacts and a latchable cradle which when latched permits said cooperating contacts to be operated to and maintained in engagement; said cradle being operatively positioned to maintain said web within said operating portion recess.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,065,357 Van Hoorn Dec. 22, 1936 2,829,222 Dunham Apr. l, 1958 2,996,589 Myers Aug. 15, 1961 

